Sermon Outline

INTRODUCTION
John begins his first epistle where he begins his gospel, announcing the incarnation of the Word who was from the beginning. Through this incarnation, John and his readers have fellowship with the Father and Son.

THE TEXT
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life. . . ." (1 John 1:1-4).

BEGINNINGS
John is clearly referring to Genesis 1:1 at the beginning of his gospel, and by this allusion he is telling us that his gospel story is the story of a new creation. John’s first epistle begins the same way. There are other allusions to Genesis 1 as well: The "Word of Life" is the word by which God spoke creation into being (1 John 1:1); the contrast of light and darkness recalls the work of the first day (Genesis 1:1-5; cf. John 1:4-5, 9); as we shall see, the word for "propitiation" (Gr. hilasmos) is connected with the "firmament" that divided the waters above from the waters below (1 John 2:2; cf. Genesis 1:6-8). The incarnation of the Word is the beginning of a new beginning.

It's important to see that "incarnation" here does not simply refer to the fact that the eternal Word became flesh and blood. It refers to the entire life and ministry of Jesus. This seems to be the point of the odd grammar of the first lines of the letter, where John uses a neuter pronoun (translated "That which" or "what") when "Word" (Gr. logos) is masculine. He uses the neuter to refer to the entire life and ministry of Jesus.

LIFE MANIFESTED
Jesus is described here as the "Word of life" and as "the eternal life" (vv. 1-2). Jesus does communicate life to us, but He communicates life to us because He Himself is life. He doesn’t simply have life; He is life. "Life" should be understood in the fullest sense here: God has all abundance, energy, joy, delight, buoyancy in Himself and His Word, but He has chosen not to keep all this eternal and infinite liveliness to Himself. The Life was "toward" the Father from all eternity (v. 1); in the incarnation, the Father turned Himself inside out, so that the Word of Life is toward us.

John appears to have some specific events of the gospel story in mind in his opening verses, particularly when he writes about "what our hands have handled" (v. 1). That refers to the disciples' touching of Jesus after His resurrection (Luke 24:39; John 20:27). Jesus is the Word of Life, the eternal life, supremely in His resurrection from the dead.

MEDIATED COMMUNION
This life is available to us through the Word of Life, now manifested in human flesh. But there is an order to this manifestation. We don't have direct access to the Word of life; we haven’t literally heard, seen, beheld, or handled Him. Instead, we rely on the testimony of the "we." John uses the first person plural to refer to himself and the other disciples who did witness Jesus directly. It is through fellowship or communion with them that we have fellowship with the Father and the Son (v. 3). And we have communion with them by believing their written testimony concerning the Word of Life (v. 4), and abiding in the community of which they are the foundation stones (cf. Ephesians 2:20).

In short: We have no communion with the Father without communion with the Son; no communion with the Son without communion with the apostles; and no communion with the apostles without receiving their written testimony and communion in and with the church.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Monday, September 18, 2006 at 07:28 AM

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